


Words

by GStK



Category: Kagerou Project
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-12
Updated: 2015-04-12
Packaged: 2018-03-22 11:21:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3726955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GStK/pseuds/GStK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You don't need any.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Words

**Author's Note:**

> Abstract. Mekakucity continuity.

‘… I think I might’ve gotten through to him this time,’ she says, voice light and self-assured as she settles back into place.

Her place is upon towers built on a land of cogs, the ground clicking and whirring beneath her feet. She holds her arms out to the air, eyes shutting, like this is the only space she’s ever belonged.

A rush of feeling hits her --

Uncertainty: the night before a big test in middle school, when no amount of cramming could help her.

Tension: watching her dad-but-not through a keyhole, after sunset and before desperation, the smirk on his face lined red.

Hope: Tsubomi’s first sports day in primary, and how they’d worked for hours helping her remember to  _be_.

‘You have to believe in him,’ she says, opening her eyes to the shadows hanging above her head. She can hear the pendulum winding back. ‘I know it’s been a long time. But he’s never given up, has he? So we can’t, either.’

Doubt: listening to her father promise them all that  _yes_ , he was really okay.

‘It’ll be fine.’ Ayano lifts to her feet again, staring at the spot Shintaro occupied moments before. The world’s threading itself back together, and he’s gone, back to try again.

And in his place lies  **it** , staring at her with eyes burning red. It frowns with Shintaro’s mouth and makes a cutting gesture through the air, a silent message that makes her laugh.

Favour. Her only companion for the moments in between.

‘He remembered, this time. Even if it was a little late.’

She picks her way towards it, alighting on spires that could never bear her weight in the real world. But here, she is weightless.

She’s not even real.

‘And next time, he’ll win for real. I believe in him. But…’ Here comes her smile, ghosting across her face as a breeze flutters her skirt. ‘I know you’re lonely. Just hang on for a little longer, alright? You’ll finally get to be with everyone. Next time.’

Nothing, and then – new emotion, sharp running through her. It turns its head away, bracing an arm against its knee.

Fear. There’s no image that comes to mind because it’s something they both feel, every moment of their day in standstill. She’s forced to pause as she finally stands next to it, body suddenly heavy.

And then.

… the serpent shifts in clear discomfort as she replies with her own sentiment, quiet reassurance to counter its words. Happiness: watching her siblings’ faces light up at the hoodies she bought them, eyes shining as she spoke of heroes.

Theirs is a two-way street, and her snake is so easily affected.

‘Have I ever lied to you?’ she teases, and as she sits next to it, shoulder-to-shoulder, its quick response wins from her a chuckle. Childish objection weighs upon her, the same as when she was little, fighting her mother on what clips to wear. 

‘Okay! Okay. But I mean it. This can’t go on forever.’ She sighs as she leans against its shoulder, watching the eternal sunset through slats in their clock tower. ‘You should start thinking about what you want to say – to them. Once this is over…’

Silence. It’s like that a lot these days, a dark restlessness the only words it has to offer. It never talks to Shintaro. Not any more.

She thinks it’s because it’s scared.

‘Me, I think I’ll talk to Dad first,’ she says mindlessly, leaning away as the serpent shifts against her. She looks at it, and the way it holds her gaze says so much. ‘Of course I want to talk to Mom! But I– I wouldn’t even know where to start.

‘– what about you? The Snake?’

The anger that floods her is a definite  _no_. The memory gets the message across – the way she’d wanted to scream at her mother’s funeral, when everyone had chosen  _was_  and never spoke of her with an  _is_.

‘… I guess there’s not a lot you could say to him,’ she agrees, voice low, now. ‘The Queen, then? Mary?’

It looks at her, then shuts an eye, offering a lazy roll of the shoulders in answer. It’s a motion that’s so blindingly  _him_  that for a moment, Ayano’s lost.

It notices – there’s no way it couldn’t. And before she can say anything, it’s smirking, summoning up old desire with a flick of its wrist.

Comfort: the sound of his voice as he droned on about some equation, white noise until he snapped at her to snap out of it. Affection: watching him enjoy himself for the first time in forever, the weight on his shoulders gone as he walked with friends.

And want. Want, so much want, every time their hands almost brushed or she looked at him at the end of the day.

Want: the desire to believe him, white-hot in her, when he’d remembered early and promised to come back for her.

It’s a story ten thousand loops old.

She’s weak at the knees and she can’t breathe, but it’s laughing at her, soundless as its entire form shakes. Cheeks burning, she shoves it away, gasping an indignant ‘ _Don’t_!’

Far away, the clock bell starts to toll, deep and foreboding. It’s time to start again.

This is the last.

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the idea that the Snake of Favouring Eyes looks like Shintaro in his middle school days.  
> Mekakucity Actors hinted that the children's snakes speak to them.


End file.
